Was a fan of this tenacious player when he was a member of the Oiler's. Not a hall of fame'r but a great physical player.

Once he became a Senator seemed very slow and unable to perform at an NHL level. For me I wish he had retired sooner, so as not to tarnish his prior NHL contributions. Was hoping his dressing room leadership could right the ship for Ottawa, but alas no dice there either.

Best thing he ever did for me was to retire and free up cap space for my team.

When a great Ex-Oiler retires, I will gladly give a shout out. Smith was an average defensemen on a below average team. He was the captain by default because at the time there wasn't much else to choose from. He was a warrior none the less. A guy that literally played with 2 separated shoulders through the playoffs with Philly two seasons ago. I think the style of play he was involved in cut his career a little shorter than it had to be.

I am impressed with you Beans, that was a tough bit of reality to throw onto Smith's parade into the HOF, lol . . . but, it was warranted. You're right, to call him great would be a real stretch, and I agree that he was the captain by default.

Tough player though, he should be proud of his career.

"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug

Guest9838 ( )

Posted - 09/03/2009 : 07:23:42

haha... You're really dwelling on the symantics here. I wasn't propping this guy up into the pantheon of Oiler "Greats" or throwing down petals for his walk into the HOF.

My comment, written without much thought to the wording, was based on Jason Smith being a solid presence on the back end, a good leader and from what I've read an all round good guy (not sure what his community involment was like, you'd probably be able to talk to that). Someone to be respected and to learn from. He gave a good chunk of his career to Edmonton, wore the "C" well, and led a fairly mediocre team on the only run worthy of talking about in the past 15-20 years.

I'm not a huge Oiler fan or anything, I just thought Smith deserved a bit of talk time, as this type of player seems to be slowing dying out.

On a side note, this is a pretty dead time for hockey news and I'm sick of the blather around Balsille and Heatley, and don't want to talk about the leafs vs the habs (whether it's the GM, the coach, the players, which team's locker room smells better, etc)

Smith would definitely not be in the "great" category but as the original poster said, that wasn't what he meant and worded it wrong.

I do find it a bit of an insult to Smith that you guys would consider him a captain by default? He not only captained the Oilers but went on to captain the Flyers during their rebuilding stage. I read his Wikipedia page and here's just a small bit from it:

When Oilers' team captain Doug Weight was later traded to the St. Louis Blues, Smith's strong leadership resulted in his being handed the 'C'. He would be the longest serving captain in Oilers history, wearing the 'C' from 2001 to 2007.

Smith captained the Edmonton Oilers to a largely unexpected run to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, in which they faced the Carolina Hurricanes, another dark horse team. However, the Oilers lost in the final game of a grueling seven game series to the Hurricanes. Smith contributed 1 goal and 4 assists during Edmonton's surprise playoff run.

On July 1, 2007, Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe traded Smith, along with forward Joffrey Lupul, to the Philadelphia Flyers for Joni Pitkanen and Geoff Sanderson, and Philadelphia's 3rd round choice in 2009.

In his first and only season in Philadelphia, Smith captained a rebuilt Flyers[1] squad to an Eastern Conference showdown against their inter-state rivals from Pittsburgh. Despite the fact that the Penguins won the series, the Flyers' turnaround from the worst team in the league to their status in 2007–08 was a credit to Smith's leadership abilities.

Maybe not a "great" player, but solid and perhaps underrated in his overall game (defense/leadership)?

Either way, i'm sure he's more than proud of his career but will prob never get that cup loss taste out of his mouth! I have to admit, that was one of the only times i've ever cheered for the Oilers!

Consider the source. Wikipedia is a great starting point, but it's nearly always bias and not always accurate. Any fan of Smith would write these kinds of things.

Secondly, I still agree that he was a deserving Captain at the time and the only reason that the he was the longest serving Captain is because the Oilers have never take a C away from a player in 30 years. Ultimately, he got the C because Ryan Smyth wasn't ready yet. He was the true leader in the dressing room. And to say anything about the Cup run and not saying that Pronger was the biggest reason on and off the ice for that happening is blasphomy.

Smith was a good leader, but not great. He was the leader of a team without an identity for a very long time. He gave his heart and soul to the game of hockey and the team he played for at the time he was playing. I give him credit for that. But to say he was a great player or a great leader is what I would consider insulting to those players who were great on and off the ice. Yzerman was a great leader. Messier was a great leader. Gretzky was a great Leader. Lemieux was a great leader. Smith, he was good. Not great.

Beans, i absolutely agree with you that Pronger was reason #1 that the Oilers went to the cup that year. The article really doesn't say that Smith was the reason though. It simply states that he was captain at that time. Yes, it's only wikipedia, but it does state facts. Does it say he was a great player or a great leader, no. Nor do i. I just think the "captain by default" bit is a little harsh. The guy was obviously a great good leader.

I think what needs to be said is that he was a respected leader. Not a great leader but a leader that always had the respect of his teamates. Respect is earned and he must have had some quality leadership skills to get that. I have tried to find articles bad mouthing Smiths leadership but all I can find in statements from players praising him as a captain in the NHL.His style was hardnosed and not flashy. He got the job done. Certainly not a great in the game but I bet most teams would have loved to have him on their squad.

I always wished the Leafs never traded him. He was a good player. I agree with Beans on everything he said.

There is no "I" in team, but there is an "M" and an "E".

Guest9838 ( )

Posted - 09/03/2009 : 08:42:37

I think the point is being missed here, this is turning into a debate that's on a completely nonsensical tangent.... forget the comparisons, nobody is comparing Smith to anyone, no one is saying he did anything he didn't. I said he led the Oilers on their cup run, is that not what a captain does? I didn't say he put the team on his back.

fine we get it, no one is arguing... he wasn't "great" he was "good"... christ.... what is up with this bizarro world of Beans arguing against an oiler and a Canucks and a Leafs fan defending him.

Guest9838 ( )

Posted - 09/03/2009 : 08:44:32

Wish I had said "Beans! no shout out to an ex-oiler captain who was good... but not great"

I think the point is being missed here, this is turning into a debate that's on a completely nonsensical tangent.... forget the comparisons, nobody is comparing Smith to anyone, no one is saying he did anything he didn't. I said he led the Oilers on their cup run, is that not what a captain does? I didn't say he put the team on his back.

fine we get it, no one is arguing... he wasn't "great" he was "good"... christ.... what is up with this bizarro world of Beans arguing against an oiler and a Canucks and a Leafs fan defending him.

Well, Beans' assesments are usually spot on. Not like my emotional retorts that get me in trouble with Hab fans and 7752.

We'll lets compare him to some of the greats. Definetly not an Orr, or a Lindstrom, but could draw some Scott Stevens comparisons. He was just not a flashy point producing player. To say he was not a great leader would contridict what every player/teamate who has a sound bite, has said about him before, and since his retirement, except his last year in Ottawa.

Im not going to miss him in Ottawa but will remember him as an effective bruiser in Edmonton. Ryan Symth couldn't take the C away from Smith because this man left his heart/soul all over the ice and demanded accountability in the dressing room.

Guest9838 ( )

Posted - 09/03/2009 : 12:00:44

aww crap.... why'd you have to go and do that... here we go again. lol. You're going to get killed for even thinking of the name Orr...

Me saying that Smith was Captain by Default is not intended to be a knock. It's actually a great things for the Oilers at the time when they had a guy like Smith to depend on. He bled Orange and Blue for the time he was here and I agree that no one said bad things about the guy on or off the ice. His effort and dedication was never questioned.

My point is this, Smith became Captain in 01 because he was the best they had at the time. If was a couple years later, without a doubt Ryan Smyth would have been given the C over Jason Smith but in 01, Smyth was entering in 5th season while Smith was going into his 8th. As I said, the Oilers don't strip Captancy. They never have and under their current guard never will. There is no doubt in my mind that most teams would have given Smyth the C after the lock out and most teams would have given Pronger the C as soon as he arrived on the scene.

So, again, Smith was a hard nose player, gave everything on the ice, and was a good leader. And he was Captain by default at a time when the team's indentity was traded away for financial reasons.

And comparing Jason Smith as a leader to a Hall of Famer and one of the best leaders in the NHL at least in the past 25 years in Scott Stevens is just not right.

Looks like no one wants to play in Ottawa. Move outta the way Edmonton.

Whats the smack about Kovalev. That guy only wants to play half a year wherever he goes, but you and I have not heard him say he dont want to play in Ottawa. It`s funny but its not accurate. If you had Yashin or Daigle in the mix it would have been more accurate and funnier.

I think the Kovalev point is because he recently said that he would like to end his career in Montreal. I guess people make the assumption that he is looking past his next 2 years in Ottawa to return to Montreal.

It's really garbage. I remember Wayne Gretzky, basically from the time he his the NHL, always said he wanted to play for the Leafs one day. Although it never happened, it also never impacted his play anywhere he was.

Wow Kovalev, is a class act. I was looking forward to seeing him play alone with Alfredson prior to that comment. If he plays like crap he may make Ottawa forget about the Heatly saga.I would have like to see Gretzky play one year in TO like Lindros did. Both stated publicly it was a dream since childhood.